Quick and easy ways to get wet.

Our May 2004 issue offered some great ideas for "Easy Escapes" including Grand Cayman, Bermuda, St. Croix, Roatan, Oahu, Cozumel, Ft. Lauderdale and Key Largo. For our Web site readers, we wanted to offer a few more for consideration — all of which can deliver maximum dive satisfaction with a minimum of hassle. Read on and start packing!

Cabo Amigos del Mar/Solmar Suites On the tip of the Baja Peninsula, the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. This vortex of the marine world is home to some of the most exciting diving on the planet. Pelagics are the name of the game in this area, namely mantas, hammerhead sharks and whale sharks, but there are plenty of smaller critters, stunning reefs and corals to round out the diving. Cabo San Lucas has long been a deep-sea fishing Mecca, further attesting to the congregation of marine life in this area, but the area's stellar diving has become popular for its tremendous diversity. Topside, Cabo is a lively Mexican resort town with plenty of activity. From beautiful beaches to elaborate nightclubs, the nondiving hours can be filled with as much or as little excitement as you like.

Solmar Suites is a deluxe oceanfront resort along a secluded beach surrounded by dramatic granite cliffs. Amazingly, it is only a 10-minute walk to town. Diving can be arranged with Amigos del Mar, a PADI dive facility and one of Cabo San Lucas' most experienced operators. Offering everything including scuba, snorkel and in-season whale-watching tours, Amigos can take you where the action is. For more information on either Amigos del Mar or Solmar Suites, call 800-344-3349 or visit www.amigosdelmar.com or www.solmar.com.

Catalina Scuba Luv, Catalina Island Romantic, quaint Catalina Island is only a short ferry ride off the coast of southern California but a world away from our daily routines. Golf carts and bicycles are the main modes of transportation in the main town of Avalon, adding to the laid-back but far-from-sleepy atmosphere. The kelp-forested coves and islets surrounding Catalina are havens for marine life including bright orange garibaldi, sheepheads, bat rays, lobsters and eels, among others. Scuba Luv is a family-owned and operated PADI dive facility in the center of Avalon where divers can choose from a variety of activities such as eel-feeding dives and shark dives. How about doubling your bottom time by taking a rebreather class or learning to shoot underwater video? There's plenty more to complement your diving experiences on Catalina. For more information, call 310-510-2350 or visit www.scubaluv.com.

Nautilus Explorer, British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska If an IMAX view of nature sounds like something you might be interested in, British Columbia is a diving destination that will definitely fit the bill. The cold-water reefs are home to some of nature's most impressive big animals including orcas, giant octopi, walls of metridiums and oversized crustaceans. Above water, snowcapped peaks and glaciers dominate a wilderness that begs to be explored. Live-aboard trips aboard the 116-foot Nautilus Explorer are the best way to dive and experience this spectacular area of the world. Itineraries ranging from six to 13 nights are available from mid-March through mid-September to several sites between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Juneau, Alaska. The days are long and leave plenty of time for exploring topside whether on foot or by kayak. Between adventures, divers can take in the scenery from the hot tub on the upper deck. For more information, call 888-434-8322 or visit www.nautilusexplorer.com.

Ultimate Getaway, Dry TortugasThey say the Florida Keys are as close as you can get in the continental United States to a Caribbean experience, and this is true, but if you are in search of an even more exclusive diving adventure, visit the Dry Tortugas. You don't reach it via the famous Seven Mile Bridge that connects the Upper and Lower Keys. In fact, a 70-mile southerly extension of A1A would be necessary to reach the seven islands that comprise the Dry Tortugas National Park, the centerpiece of which is historic Fort Jefferson on Garden Key. The area is only accessible by seaplane or boat, and for divers, the best option is definitely by boat: specifically, the Ultimate Getaway. This luxurious live-aboard departs regularly out of Fort Myers, Florida, for four-day dive adventures to the Dry Tortugas, with stops at Fort Jefferson and its remote reefs, the wreck of the World War II transport ship the Baja California, an Air Force relay tower in the Gulf of Mexico. As far as an easy escape is concerned, a live-aboard is a great way to maximize your dive experience and minimize travel hassles. For details on the Ultimate Getaway, call 866-474-2069 or visit www.ultimategetaway.net. For more information on the Dry Tortugas National Park, visit www.nps.gov/drto.

Abacos, The Bahamas It is hard to believe that a flight of barely an hour out of Florida can take you to what feels like 1,000 miles away from the hustle and bustle of stateside life. The Abaco Islands are one of the best-kept secrets of the Bahamas. These out-islands have long been a favorite with yachtsmen and fishermen, but what many have yet to discover is the fantastic diving that is harbored in the waters surrounding these vastly uninhabited islands. The hundreds of offshore cays of the Abacos stretch more than 120 miles and provide excellent access to the world's third largest barrier reef. Dive Abaco's operation is based in Marsh Harbour at the Conch Inn Resort and Marina, about midway through the Abaco island chain. A short boat ride will put you on a reef or wreck in minutes. A trip to the Bahamas is hardly complete without a shark dive, and there are also tunnels and caverns to explore. For more information, call 800-247-5338 or visit www.diveabaco.com. Scuba Cancun For an action-packed but still ultimately easy escape, few Caribbean locales can measure up to the high-energy Mecca of Cancun. The excellent diving has been overshadowed by the glitz and 24/7 party atmosphere, but it should definitely not be discounted. In addition, the availability of swank digs for divers is phenomenal, and what better way to illustrate this than with an all-inclusive facility like the oceanfront Tucancun Beach Resort. Book your diving with Scuba Cancun, a PADI Gold Palm Resort, and take advantage of both its reef- and cenote-diving trips, both nearby. Then take in all of the other adventures that Cancun has to offer, such as live dolphin encounters, sailing trips and Maya ruin tours, not to mention a plethora of dining and night-life choices. For more information on diving in Cancun, contact Scuba Cancun at [email protected] or visit www.scubacancun.com.mx. To check out the Tucancun Beach Resort, visit www.tucancunbeach.com.mx.